In March, the software company Lantek (www.lanteksms.com) — founded in 1986 in the Basque Country — opened its first UAE office in the city of Sharjah.

With this new presence, the multi-national software solutions developer for the global sheet-metal industry is extending its international reach, adding to its many offices throughout Europe, Asia and the Americas with one in the Middle East.

Alberto Martínez, CEO of Lantek, said: “The Emirate of Sharjah is a hub for industrial enterprises, and we think it will be an important location for Lantek.

“We have more than 500 clients in these countries, but the potential is huge because of the investment being made in the lead-up to Expo 2020 in Dubai. We also plan to reach other Arabian Gulf countries from this office.”

He says that international expansion goes hand-in-hand with the positive 2017 forecast announced by Lantek, which projects a 19% increase in revenue (bringing total sales to over 17 million euros), and that Lantek has not shied away from the challenges faced by industry as a whole.

“During the next few years, we will be focused on our clients’ digital transformation. We are on the verge of the fourth industrial revolution, which will change production.

“Because we are committed to growth and supporting our customers’ digitisation processes, we are going to expand our R&D budget by more than 1.6 million euros in 2017; we will also be increasing the size of our project implementation and development teams.”